Oil truck overturns in Orland

A diesel delivery truck rolled over into a brook off Route 1 in Orland near the Ellsworth town line Tuesday morning. Orland Fire Dept. personnel responded to a call from State Police that came in from Bucksport Dispatch at about 1:38 am State Police requested OFD response to the scene of the crash. As of 11:21 am, OFD personnel are still at the scene. Bucksport ambulance transported the driver to EMMC. Bucksport FD brought absorbant booms to the scene where OFD used them to help control the spill of fuel into the stream near Patten Pond. Maine DEP, State Police, the trucking company and its clean-up contractors have been at the scene. Some of them are still there and said they may be there for more than one day. (Photo courtesy of Sharon Bray/Orland Fire Dept.)

ORLAND, Maine — An oil truck overturned on a slick stretch of Route 1 early Tuesday morning near the Orland-Ellsworth town line, spilling fuel onto the roadway and threatening a nearby pond.

Donna Gormley, spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said DEP crews responded shortly before 3 a.m. prepared for the worst.

“It could have been a disaster, but there really was only a small amount of fuel that spilled,” she said.

A DEP crew was still on scene late Tuesday morning, off-loading 3,800 gallons of diesel fuel and 800 gallons of kerosene, Gormley said.

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When the truck lost control, it crashed into a guardrail and went down over an embankment, she said. At that point, the fuel tank detached from the truck’s cab, which Gormley said was probably a stroke of good luck.

“There was a small hole in the tank, but it was at the top and the truck ended up on its wheels,” she said.

A small amount of fuel did spill out and into a nearby stream, but Gormley said it did not threaten Patten Pond, where that stream flows.

The truck was owned by Diesel Direct of Massachusetts. The driver was not identified but was not believed to have been injured.